The 9 Hottest Up-And-Coming Startups In South America

While it may not be the first place you associate with the bustling startup scene, South America is slowly making moves in the tech world.

Incubators and accelerators like Startup Chile, Startup Peru, Incubar, and iNNpulsa are popping up to feed the growth and foster a friendlier and more supportive environment for startups. But according to TechCrunch, a large portion of these startups end up leaving the continent after graduating from their programs.

There are still many startups brewing across South America, and we decided to round up the best of the up-and-coming batch.

Kunfood wants to make it super easy to order food in a restaurant.

Kunfood is bringing the in-restaurant app to South America, letting diners order and pay when they want to.

The startup is headquartered in Lima and has raised $90,000 from investors like Wayra and Startup Chile. Their app is available for free in Google Play and Apple's App Store.

Fitrip helps you explore cities while staying fit.

The Fitrip teamYouTube

Fitrip is an app that provides you with an audio guide while traveling to make sure you stay fit while exploring new places.

The team is based out of Caracas, Venezuela, and is working hard to make sure you don't need to sacrifice a toned body when traveling. SportTechie says it is a very promising startup.

Tripea will help you plan your next vacation on a budget.

A screenshot of Tripea's homepage.Tripea

The idea behind Tripea is that instead of having to input a destination, you will be able to fill out your budget and other preferences and the site will give you options for where you can go on vacation.

Tripea is headquartered in Lima and is supported by a team of four entrepreneurs and three advisors.

BitPagos is developing payment technology and trying to boost Bitcoin use in South America.

The BitPagos team at Labitconf 2013.Twitter

While currently based in Palo Alto, BitPagos was started by Argentinian Sebastian Serrano and still has an office in Buenos Aires. The startup is to trying help merchants around the world collect and accept bitcoins. For now, BitPagos is focusing on the hotel and travel industry.

Last month, the startup announced it had raised a seed round of $600,000 led by investors like Pantera Capital, Tim Draper, Barry Silbert, Boost Bitcoin Fund, and Amasia.

Easy Vino helps restaurants and customers select wine.

A screenshot of Easy Vino's site.Easy Vino

Easy Vino was developed in the incubator Startup-Chile, and it now operates in Chile and Brazil. The startup helps restaurants develop wine lists and provides an app that customers can use to select wine with their meal.

According to CNN, more than 100 restaurants use the Easy Vino app. That startup's owner, Hugo Bernardo, is now trying to bring it to Silicon Valley.

Easy Taxi is the Uber of South America.

YouTube

Brazil-based startup Easy Taxi lets people in 27 countries tap into the car-sharing craze popularized by Uber, Lyft, and others.

Mural.ly makes it easier for teams to work on virtual projects together.

A screenshot of a project on Mural.ly.YouTube

Mural.ly is a collaboration tool that lets users add links and web content to a Pinterest-like Google Doc.

The startup launched in the end of 2012 with seed funding from investors like Intel Capital, 500 Startups, NXTP Labs, and Alta Ventures Mexico. Mural.ly's development team is still based in Buenos Aires, but the startup's CEO currently lives in San Francisco.

Dafiti is Brazil's own version of Amazon.

A screenshot of Dafiti's homepage.Dafiti

Dafiti, an ecommerce startup out of Rocket Internet, is a fairly simple online shopping site for apparel and shoes. It was launched in 2011 and has since become one of the key online fashion players.

XMarket wants to be the Craigslist meets Amazon of Brazil.

A screenshot of XMarket's homepage.XMarket

XMarket will be an online marketplace for real estate, cars, and secondhand items. Today the startup announced $850,000 in seed funding, and they plan to launch in Brazil in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Before working on XMarket, the startup's CEO, Lonny Szneiberg, founded Investing.com which has since been acquired.